It's a great annual tradition: the Jobvite Recruiter Nation survey. They do a terrific job. This year, the survey covered a wide range of topics, and showed how Covid is impacting, well: all of it. The survey drew data from 802 recruiters across the US, and considered both staffing as well as corporate perspectives.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Recruiting priorities have changed as the importance of improving time-to-hire fades and prioritizing diversity in hiring gains prominence. The quality of the hire is now more important than ensuring an expedited hiring process.
• Social media, employee referral programs, and job boards are the recruiting areas most likely to see increased financial investments in the next 12 months.
• Lack of skilled/qualified candidates and competition from other employers remain the biggest challenges in hiring quality talent.
• Three-quarters of surveyed recruiters choose in-person interviews as the most effective interview mode. However, recruiters have adapted. Half of surveyed recruiters conduct 50% or more of their interviews via video and 40% of recruiters believe virtual interviews will be the default moving forward.
• One-third of surveyed recruiters report that, at their organization, 50% or more of open roles are being hired as remote workers.
• Internal hires remain the top-rated source for hiring, followed by employee referrals and job boards.
• Recruiters are comfortable using text messaging to source and especially communicate with applicants.
• Almost two-thirds of surveyed recruiters report that, since the onset of the pandemic, their stress level at work has increased at least somewhat. This includes one-fifth of recruiters whose stress level has drastically increased.
• The pandemic has led to diminished headcount and hiring in about one-third of organizations.
• A majority of surveyed companies have specific goals for diversity in hiring with respect to race/ethnicity and gender, while substantial numbers also have goals related to age, veterans, LGBTQ+, and immigrants.
• Inquiring about an organization’s D&I initiatives has become more common – one-third of recruiters reported that job seekers are doing so more than they did in the previous year.
• Close to half of surveyed recruiters are reporting that job seekers are inquiring about mental health benefits more frequently since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interest in accommodations and flexibility for working parents is even higher, with two-thirds of recruiters reporting more frequent inquiries.
• Half of surveyed recruiters report at least a moderate increase in negotiating for higher salaries since the onset of the pandemic.
• Half of surveyed recruiters report that they are seeing more employees taking on side jobs outside of their work for the company.
• Surveyed recruiters most commonly leverage AI for job recommendations on career sites, candidate matching, job description recommendations, candidate screening with automated messages, and candidate engagement scoring.

‍DIVING DEEPER

Hiring trends & challenges

• 52% of recruiters report that improving quality of hire is the most important priority
• 58% of recruiters cite a lack of skilled/qualified candidates as biggest hiring challenge
• 20% of respondents say having too many candidates is a major challenge
• 32% of recruiters report that 50% or more of open roles at their organization are being hired as remote workers

Job interviews

• 77% of recruiters choose in-person interviews as the most effective interview mode, though half conduct 50% or more of their interviews via videos
• 40% of respondents believe virtual interviews will be the default moving forward
• Biggest video interview mistakes are poor internet connectivity (37%), inappropriate attire (25%), and poor eye contact (23%)

Diversity & inclusion

• A majority of surveyed companies have specific goals for diversity in hiring in respect to race/ethnicity (63%) and gender (54%), while substantial numbers also have goals in respect to age (37%), veterans (33%), LGBTQ+ (29%), and immigrants (28%)

Social media in recruiting

• 78% say social media is the area most likely to see increased financial investments in the next 12 months
• 72% of respondents use LinkedIn, a decrease of 20 percentage points since 2017
• 37% are using Instagram for recruiting, up from only 18% in 2017
• 7% of recruiters use TikTok and 13% use Snapchat for recruiting efforts

SOME TAKE AWAYS:

For starters: no massive shocks. We're far enough along in the year to expect much of what the report reflects. Priorities are focused on diversity, internal moves, furloughs, outsourcing. We're far less concerned with pipelines, and - sadly - candidate experience. While the Talent Board and the CanDes continue to push for excellence here, we're seeing some companies turn away from this priority. This becomes a "what happens when the rubber hits the road moment".

We are stressed - which, well, isn't shocking:

We're suddenly back into cover letters.

It's interesting to see how LinkedIn's recent survey analysis of how work trends are impacting recruitment dovetails with the Jobvite survey in few areas:

‍Diversity

Recruiting will help keep the business accountable on diversity. LinkedIn shows that recruiters not only expect to deliver a diverse pipeline of candidates, but to also advocate for them and hold hiring managers accountable for moving those candidates through the funnel. Jobvite shows a similar focus currently. Expect that to grow.

We Go, and Will Largely Stay, Virtual

Recruiters (69%) of them want a say in workplace planning and operations. Remote work tantalizes with its promises of diverse talent pools, increased productivity and retention - recruiters see those as helping them achieve their own goals, as well as making their work-life more acceptable. According to Jobvite data, it's happening already. 32% of recruiters have reported that 50% or more of their organizations’ open roles are remote. 78% of recruiters in the Jobvite survey said that social media is most likely to see increased financial investments in the next 12 months, and that virtual platforms for hiring are changing.

Recruiting processes and recruiters skills, technologies, and aptitudes will have to continue to adjust to remote-first recruitment, hiring, and operations.

“Our report’s key findings reveal how the pandemic has reshaped the recruiting process, investments, and priorities,” said Jeffrey K. Rohrs, CMO of Jobvite. “We believe that many of these shifts brought forth in 2020 will be here to stay, making it vital for recruiting teams to be equipped with the right systems, tools, and channels to navigate this new reality and attract highly-skilled talent.”